King County’s wharves, docks and ferry landings: starting a new century

26 Saturday Aug 2017

Posted by kcarchivist in Drawings and plans, From the Vault, Photographs

The King County Archives recently updated one of its older record series, County Engineer wharf files 1899-1987 (Series 375). Staff and volunteers added more maps and drawings to the series and improved descriptions of new and existing record materials.

The old wharves themselves are mostly long gone, part of a past that seems increasingly far away. But the records that remain remind us that water-based transportation once was an important mode of travel to people throughout the Puget Sound region –– as it may be again.

Lunchpail-toting children at Northup Wharf on Yarrow Bay, c. 1912-1916. (Series 375, Box 5, Folder 32)

A Short History of King County’s Wharves

Construction and maintenance of about 100 wharves (also called docks) was a significant part of King County’s public works function during the first half of the twentieth century.

Vessels on Puget Sound and Lakes Union and Washington carried passengers and freight. So wharves became an extension of the county’s road system, connectors between water and land transportation.

In this 1932 image, a branch of County Road 987 (now 76th Avenue SE) passes through this north Mercer Island neighborhood to connect with McGilvra Wharf no. 987 on Lake Washington. (Series 375, Box 5, Series 17.)

Most of the wharves were publicly accessible. A few wharves served private resorts or camps but were maintained by King County if they were at the end of public roads.

King County ferries and ferry docks

From about 1900 to 1939, King County also operated, or contracted for, ferry services across Lake Washington and to Vashon Island. County ferry docks were located in Seattle (Leschi and Madison Park), Kirkland, Bellevue, Medina, Des Moines and on Vashon Island.

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Foot passengers walk on the Seattle ferry at Wharf 287, Kirkland Ferry Dock, as automobiles wait to board, June 1918. Series 400, item 95-005-0526-P.

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Work crew removing “an old Vashon wharf” [probably at Lisabuela], 1967. Series 400, image file 629.

With the growth of land-based transportation in the 1930s, and construction of the first floating bridge across Lake Washington in 1941, water transportation became a lesser county priority.

Private companies, and then the state of Washington, took over Vashon car ferry service.

After World War II, King County worked to remove abandoned and unsafe wharves.

Future public parks

Other wharf sites became parks. Some of today’s municipal parks—such as Dumas Bay Wildlife Sanctuary in Federal Way; Meydenbauer Beach Park (under development) and Enatai Beach Park, both in Bellevue; and Kennydale Beach Park in Renton—had their start as county parks on the sites of former county wharves.

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Swimmers gather at the end of the dock at Enatai Beach Park, Bellevue, a King County park in the 1950s. (Series 375, Box 5, Folder 3)

King County’s present-day Dockton Beach Park on Maury Island provides a public boat launch and moorage structure situated on the former site of Dockton Wharf no. 542.

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Pile driving work at Dockton Wharf no. 542, probably in the 1920s. (Series 375, Box 5, Folder 7)

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This Parks Department photograph may have been taken in the mid-1960s to publicize the redeveloped Dockton Beach Park. (Series 467, Box 2, Folder 29)

Water taxis: an alternative to cars

At the end of the twentieth century, transportation planners faced increasing challenges with automobiles, including traffic gridlock, longer commute distances, and air pollution. To provide an alternative for some commuters, in 1997 King County initiated a new foot-ferry service, first to West Seattle and, in 2007, to Vashon Island.

King County also built new docks and waiting rooms to serve the new passenger ferries.

Foot traffic to West Seattle uses the new Seacrest terminal. (King County Department of Transportation photograph from Captain’s Blog, February 16, 2017, and brochure).

Documenting County Wharf and Dock History

Series 375, the County Engineer’s wharf files, is made up of different record types: paper textual materials, graphical materials, and black-and-white photographs.

Textual records

Textual materials include copies of letters and memoranda to and from the county Commissioners, engineers and inspectors, and the general public.

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Petition from the South End Community Club, Burton, Vashon Island, to the King County Commissioners, asking for “ordinary facilities” (restrooms) at the Tahlequah ferry terminal, 1931. (Series 375, Box 3, Folder 10)

Other types of textual materials include petitions, copies of Commissioner resolutions, inspection reports, specifications, and cost estimates. 375-1-1 Case for postwar recreation

Inspector F.D. Sheffield’s notes (1946) on the postwar recreational potential of old wharf sites foreshadowed King County’s robust park expansion in the late 1940s and 1950s. (Series 375, Box 1, Folder 1)

Graphical records

Graphical material–drawings, plans and maps–are present both as individual encapsulated paper sheets and as aggregated groups of working drawings and blueprints. Record types can include site maps, elevations, sections, structural plans, piling plans, construction drawings, surveys, tide lines, detail drawings, shop drawings, and floor plans.

This 1926 drawing shows how King County brought water to a drinking fountain at the Vashon Heights ferry terminal (predecessor of the present state facility at the same location). (Series 375, Box 8, Folder 8) (Click on image to view full drawing)

Photographic prints and negatives

Black-and-white photographic prints and negatives may show some or all of the following:

the wharf seen from various angles (shore and water, ground level, and elevated perspective)
approaches (road or rail)
ancillary structures (sheds, waiting rooms, retail businesses)
adjacent terrain; adjacent residential and commercial structures
construction, maintenance, repairing or rebuilding of the wharf
documentation of the wharf’s condition

In the background of this 1936 image of the Tahlequah ferry terminal, Vashon Island, the Asarco copper smelter smokestack in Ruston (once the world’s tallest at 571 feet) emits its notoriously toxic pollutants. The stack was demolished in 1993. (Series 375, Box 5, Folder 19)

Connecting series

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Stone’s Landing, circa 1906.(Series 400, image no. 95-005-1191-N.)

Archives staff also identified photographs of wharves found in other record series, and cross-referenced them to Series 375.

For example, several images of Wharf no. 239 at Stone’s Landing (now Redondo) were found in a large series of general engineering photographs. The images show a party of King County inspectors at the wharf, possibly following the fatal collapse of part of the structure in 1906. The unidentified girl appears in several photographs.

Sorting out wharf names and numbers

During their active lives, wharves were identified by a county wharf number and by a name, or names. New archival work in 2016-2017 centered on accurately associating wharf numbers with wharf name(s) and establishing a standard name for each wharf.

King County’s Wharf 3 on southeast Lake Union (seen here in 1937) was also known as Prospect Street Wharf, Howard Avenue Wharf, Lake Union Ferry Wharf, and the King County Dock. (Series 375, Box 5, Folder 21)

An authority cross-reference file of variant wharf names was created. The standard names and numbers were added to existing descriptions of record material and to graphical material (maps, plans, and drawings) that were described for the first time.

Cross-referencing drawings and related materials

About 250 professionally-conserved, hard-copy maps and drawings of wharves had previously been transferred to the Archives by the King County Road Services Division, as part of that agency’s Map Vault preservation program. Archives personnel revised existing descriptions of the drawings so that they matched with related materials in Series 375.

Digital images of these maps and drawings are currently available through the King County Road Services Map Vault.

Wharf and Dock History Records: A Resource for Many Researchers

Series 375 is an excellent source of evocative and nostalgic photographs of Puget Sound and Lakes Washington and Union. But these records can also be used in different ways for different types of research. Some examples follow.

The small steamer Daring approaches Wharf 116 at Ellisport-Chautauqua, Vashon Island, c. 1912. (Series 375, Box 5, Folder 25)

Marine historians can gain insights into water transportation in twentieth-century King County. The steamer Daring, pictured here, has been further documented in Mosquito Fleet of South Puget Sound (Jean Cammon Findlay and Robin Paterson, 2008).

One of King County’s first parks (1938) was developed on Meydenbauer Bay at the site of a former ferry landing. Built with federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds, the park later fell into disrepair and was abandoned. It is now being redeveloped by the City of Bellevue. (Series 400, Item 95-005-2981)

Students of recreation and leisure activities can trace the development of county and municipal parks at former wharf sites.

King County’s first ferry service to Vashon Island connected Des Moines and Portage. This drawing (c.1920) of the Des Moines ferry landing shows the location of deck and fender pilings (Series 375, Box 7, Folder 12)

An older blueprint of Redondo Wharf 256 was used to indicate pilings for replacement in 1916 (Series 375, Box 7, Folder 14)

Marine biologists, scuba divers and social anthropologists may find interest in diagrams of old pilings at former wharf sites.

The village of Lisabuela, on the west side of Vashon Island, was the site of a popular resort from the 1920s to the 1950s. The steamer Virginia V (still sailing) and her four predecessors served the Lisabuela dock. (Series 375, Box 5, folder 1)

Vashon Islanders can learn more of island history, through records of public wharves, resort and camp wharves, and ferry terminals at Tahlequah and Vashon Heights (north Vashon Island).

Two recent Vashon community history projects have documented Camp Sealth, a Campfire Girls site with its own wharf; and Ellisport/Chatauqua. The latter project used records of Wharf 116 to help document Ellisport’s history.

Textual records associated with Newport Wharf no. 754 on Lake Washington describe the wharf’s use by logging companies as a dump site for logs being floated to sawmills. The second East Channel bridge to Mercer Island can be seen in the background of this 1932 image. (Series 375, Box 5, folder 10)

This 1937 view of Wharf no. 4 on North Lake Union at the foot of Stone Way also shows several adjacent businesses in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood. (Series 375, Box 5, Folder 22.)

Researchers of King County’s industrial and commercial history may find useful information in these records.

A New Era of Water Transportation?

King County, having re-established passenger ferry service to West Seattle and Vashon Island, has considered future expansion of water transportation to Seattle from Kenmore, Kirkland, Renton, Shilshole, and South Puget Sound (2007 King County Passenger-Only Ferry Project Briefing Paper). What once was, may be again. And documentation of new county ferries and facilities will create new records for future researchers.

Commemorating the Ship Canal Centennial: the Mills of Salmon Bay

05 Monday Jun 2017

Posted by kcarchivist in Events, Exhibits, Photographs

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Lake Washington Ship Canal Centennial, Making The Cut

Detail of photograph of Sobey Manufacturing Shingle Mill, 1915. Item 51879, Series 2613-07, Engineering Department Photographic Negatives, Seattle Municipal Archives.

Detail from cross-section drawing of the Seattle Cedar Lumber Manufacturing Company mill, 1915. Series 276, Salmon Bay Waterway Condemnation Survey No. 1255, King County Archives.

Plat of Salmon Bay Road, 1880. Road Book Volume 4, Series 30, King County Commissioners’ Road Books, King County Archives.

Announcing the opening of a joint exhibit from the King County Archives and the Seattle Municipal Archives:

The Mills of Salmon Bay and the Lake Washington Ship Canal

Created in commemoration of the Lake Washington Ship Canal Centennial, our new exhibit presents a history of the sawmills and shingle mills in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood that were affected by the canal.

The exhibit is part of Making the Cut, a series of exhibits, projects, and events from local organizations and individuals commemorating the centennial of the canal’s opening.

The Mills of Salmon Bay and the Lake Washington Ship Canal

Exhibit Dates: June through July, 2017

Location: underground pedestrian tunnel between the King County Courthouse and the King County Administration Building

Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Access the tunnel from the lower level of the King County Courthouse (516 3rd Avenue) or the King County Administration Building (500 4th Avenue) in downtown Seattle.

Exhibit background

On July 4, 1917, fifty-thousand people celebrated the opening of Seattle’s Lake Washington Ship Canal with fireworks, a carnival, and a boat parade.

Some forty years had passed between when the Ship Canal was first envisioned by non-native settlers and its completion. One of the last decisions to be made about the canal’s design was the placement of the locks, which would impact the sawmills and shingle mills along Ballard’s Salmon Bay.

The Mills of Salmon Bay and the Lake Washington Ship Canal features maps, technical drawings (steampunk fans take notice!), and photographs that were created by the City of Seattle and King County for the canal project. These records provide a view into the operation of these early 20th Century mills.

The exhibit presents a brief history of the Salmon Bay mills, regional labor issues in the timber industry, and the impact of the canal’s design and construction on Ballard’s Shingletown.

Visit makingthecut100.org for information about the many exhibits, events, projects, and online resources commemorating the centennial of the Lake Washington Ship Canal’s opening.

A theater near you

28 Monday Nov 2016

Posted by kcarchivist in Discoveries, From the Vault, Photographs

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fromthevault_graphic

drive-in_noway

Advertisement from The Seattle Times, Friday, September 27, 1968.

The holiday season has begun, and November’s soggy weather inspires many to head to the movies with visiting relatives, ready to take in the latest blockbuster films.

In this post, we look at records from the archives that document perceptions of a once-popular venue, the drive-in theater.

Communities facing change

Records of land use applications, hearings, and appeals can provide a view of individuals and communities responding to growth and change. The King County Commissioners’ zoning files, dating from the 1950s and 1960s, document the public response to several proposed developments, including a golf course, an air strip, and a drive-in theater.

A quiet life

The rezone file that documents approval of a drive-in theater includes snapshots of the affected rural neighborhood, with its modest homes, small businesses, a trailer park, and a nursery.

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[Views of neighborhood around 86th Avenue South and the East Valley Highway, 1965. The first set of photos above was taken using a Polaroid camera, the second is on Kodak paper.]

In my back yard?

In 1965 when a new drive-in theater was proposed for this community, local residents objected. Petitions and letters expressed concern over traffic, diminished property values, noise, light, and litter that the theater might bring.

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One letter to County Commissioners recognized that new businesses would inevitably come to the neighborhood — just off the East Valley Highway between Kent and Auburn — but warned that a drive-in might define the area’s character and limit the type of commercial growth.

Moral character

Along with practical concerns came strong moral objection to the movies themselves and worry over their potential negative influence on local children and youth. Some lamented that drive-ins had changed from being family-oriented venues to showing “unwholesome” films to an “unwholesome” audience.

Reports of alcohol consumption, fighting, and young couples behaving inappropriately at existing area drive-ins added to the concern.

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The Kent Police Chief responded that behavior at drive-ins was manageable.

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Planning and growth

The Planning Department’s logo represented a balance of industrial, agricultural, business, and residential uses, connected by highways and roads, seemingly pulled into an asymmetrical shape by the natural form of a waterway.

Facilitating development while maintaining quality of life is the perpetual challenge for local planners. And, in spite of the residents’ objections and appeal, the department recommended approval of the rezone.

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[Sketch of the proposed theater as it would appear from the road.]

The Valley Drive-In

The Valley Drive-In opened in 1966 and became a popular destination, expanding over time from a single, sixty-foot-high screen, to a six-screen multiplex. It outlasted other drive-in theaters in King County, staying in business until 2012. Feliks Banel’s article from May of this year, “Auburn’s abandoned Valley Drive-In is a spooky ‘graveyard‘” provides a nostalgic view of the theater and drive-ins generally.

While researchers at the Archives most frequently use land use and zoning records to answer a specific technical or legal question, the records also document how neighborhoods change over time and how people respond to that change. The records of this rezone show a small community’s assertion of its values, which they felt were threatened by a new venue that might allow uncontrolled behavior and exposure to what were regarded as negative social influences. Parents today, concerned over youth’s access to the unlimited content of the Internet and unsupervised time, might relate to these fears. As with many archival records, this zoning file reminds us that what seem like new issues might in fact be perennial themes, reemerging in new forms.

Sources

King County Commissioners’ Zoning Files, Series 129 (129.20.2) (1965).

Valley Drive-In advertiesement from The Seattle Times, Friday, September 27, 1968, page 31.

“Fifty years: Adapting to change keeps drive-ins alive,” The Seattle Times, Sunday, June 5, 1983, page G-1.

“Auburn’s abandoned Valley Drive-In is a spooky ‘graveyard’,” MyNorthwest.com, May 12, 2016, (http://mynorthwest.com/291115/auburns-abandoned-valley-drive-in-spooky-graveyard)

How they built the bridge: Teamwork at Tolt-MacDonald Park, 1976

30 Sunday Oct 2016

Posted by kcarchivist in Archives Month, Photographs

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This is the last in a series of blog posts celebrating American Archives Month 2016, using King County records to highlight the history of King County parks. For more, see “Athletes with Disabilities: King County Parks as a Recreation Pioneer,” “From Coal to the Cold War: Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park’s Former Nike Missile Sites,” and “Lake Wilderness Lodge: Mid-Century Modern, Pacific Northwest Style.”

How they built the bridge: Teamwork at Tolt-MacDonald Park, 1976

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Clipping from the Seattle Times, June 19, 1976. Series 45, King County Executive John Spellman Clipping Files, Box 8, Folder 16, King County Archives.

Forty years ago, the 1976 Bicentennial, commemorating the 200^th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, inspired projects celebrating American history and heritage, civic engagement, and community service.

One of the largest and most ambitious Bicentennial projects in the country happened at a King County park in the spring of 1976.

In 1973, King County had opened the Tolt River Park and campground near Carnation, on the east side of the Snoqualmie River where it was joined by the Tolt. Undeveloped park property also lay on the west bank of the Snoqualmie River. A connecting footbridge was envisioned but not initially built.

Aerial park site view, circa 1975-1976. The park is in the angle formed where the rivers meet. The undeveloped west portion area is the forested hillside in the upper left side of the photograph. Series 467, Park System Photograph Files, Box 6, Folder 25, King County Archives.

A Community Project for the Boy Scouts and the Marines

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John MacDonald: photo printed in park dedication program, Series 468, Park System History Files, Box 1, Folder 63, King County Archives.

In 1974, Seattle banker John MacDonald approached King County government with an idea. President of the Chief Seattle Boy Scout Council and a longtime leader of his own church-sponsored Scout troop, MacDonald proposed a Bicentennial project involving all the area’s Boy Scouts. His idea? Scouts would develop trails and campsites on the west bank of Tolt River Park, and the U.S. Marines would build a 500-foot pedestrian bridge across the river.

“Just the type of cooperative project that we have been striving for!” — King County Executive John Spellman to the King County Council.

King County contributed $150,000. Scout Council project manager Don Gerber later recalled, “One of the nice things was that the county merely said, ‘Here’s the money. Build a park.’”

But the Chief Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts of America first had to persuade its 12 component districts to turn their annual “camporees” into work parties. After eight months, 45 meetings, and two scale models of the site (built by Eagle Scouts), everyone agreed. By early 1976, 18 months of planning had resulted in an ambitious six-weekend construction schedule.

King County Parks Department representatives brief the public relations committee of the Chief Seattle Boy Scout Council at the Snoqualmie River bridge site, January 9, 1976. Series 467, Park System Photograph Files, Box 6, Folder 25, King County Archives.

U.S. Army Reserve Brochure, Series 468, Park System History Files, Box 1, Folder 62, King County Archives.

Community Service by the U.S. Army and Marines

Bridge construction would be led by the Army Reserve’s 409th Engineer Company, an Everett-based unit under the 124th Army Reserve Command in Seattle. They would be assisted by the Regular Army, the Marine Corps Reserve, and the 6th Field Engineering Squadron from North Vancouver, British Columbia, who worked on an exchange basis with the 124th. All units operated under regulations allowing for domestic action that provided community services.

Training for the Army Reserve

Building a suspension bridge was also a training exercise for the 409th. Plans came from the Army’s Technical Manual 5-270, with modifications: larger handrails, anti-sway cables, heavier footings, improved cable anchor design, and additions to increase flood, wind and earthquake resistance. The bridge was built to last at least forty years.

Engineering drawing for the bridge. Series 468, Park System History Files, Box 1, Folder 62, King Count Archives.

The project begins

In cold rain and hail, on April 24, 1,500 Scouts from the Shoreline and Viking (northwest Seattle) Districts and 400 leaders and parents turned out.

April 24-25: First task: to clear 23 campsites of ten-foot high brush and devil’s club.

Scout encampment at Tolt River Park. After the day’s work, Scouts participated in traditional Camporee scoutcraft games and contests and competed in camping skills.

May 1-2: Working on a shelter roof. This weekend Scouts from the Cedar River and Central Kitsap districts were on site.

May 1-2: Early worries by leaders that older Scouts wouldn’t participate alongside the cubs proved unfounded.

May 1: Scouts taking a break beside a trail they are building.

May 1-2: The Army Reserve began to raise the 54-foot high bridge towers. Here we see the bridge site seen through approach piers.

May 1-2: Tower and cable work.

May 1-2: The Army Reserve finished the towers and the main suspension cable work the second weekend of the project.

May 8: Assembling a picnic table.

Worksite panorama: main cables have been suspended from the bridge towers.

“It’s fun and it’s work….I think this is a great project because all the parks and campgrounds are so crowded and this will add more room for outdoor people.” — Mark Reed, age 12

“We guys would never work like this at home, but out here it’s a real project. It’s neat to see what we did today and to think about all the people will be able to come out and use this park.” — Jim Krie, age 13

On May 8, cool morning air gave way to a blistering sun. Thirteen hundred Scouts of the Cascade District (Bellevue and Redmond) continued work. Said a reporter for the Bellevue American newspaper, “Perhaps the most notable example of teamwork was the 200-person chain [of Cub Scouts] which passed rocks [for erosion control], one at a time from a rock source at the bottom of the hill to a destination on top.”

Remembering John MacDonald

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John MacDonald, on a trail built by the Scouts, spring 1976. Photocopied Seattle Times photograph originally published July 23, 1976. Series 468, Park System History Files, Box 1, Folder 60, King Count Archives.

John MacDonald was often on site. “This will be remembered by every one of these kids every time they come back here,” he said. “Whenever they go to any park, they’ll remember the work that goes into it and they’ll appreciate it.”

MacDonald, aged 61, suffered a fatal heart attack on May 10, 1976. On June 1, the King County Council, honoring his “efforts and examples of community spirit,” added his name to the site known today as Tolt River–John MacDonald Park.

The bridge deck as it begins extending from the west bank tower.

Scouts at camp, May 15.

View from the top of the trail.

Members of Thunderbird Troop 53 from the Japanese Baptist Church move logs to the hilltop. Each trip took an hour and each group made the trip twice.

Joining the bridge deck sections.

June 5-6: The Army Reserve had now finished the bridge, although not without some night work. Scouts contributed by nailing bridge deck flooring.

Site development work was completed by Scouts from the Polaris District (northeast Seattle), the West Seattle District, and the Mount Olympus District of Clallam and Jefferson Counties.

At the project’s end, 20,000 Scouts and adult leaders had put in some 75,000 hours of work. They had constructed forty hike-in campsites, five shelters and two large service centers; assembled ten picnic tables; opened miles of trails and drainage channels; and undertaken preliminary landscaping. King County estimated that the volunteer work had saved the county $1.5 million in labor costs.

The large scale of the project, and the amount of community cooperation and coordination that had accomplished it, drew local, regional and even national media attention.

U.S. News & World Report

Outdoor Recreation Action

Reserve

Sunset Magazine

Some of the regional and national magazines which featured stories about the Bicentennial bridge project. A feature story also appeared in the Scouting magazine Boys’ Life, October 1976. Series 468, Park System History Files, Box 1, Folder 63, King County Archives.

Time to Celebrate

Color guard crossing the bridge, June 26, 1976. Series 467, Park System History Files, Box 6, Folder 25, King County Archives.

On a bright, sunny June 26, 1976, a crowd of 2,000 — County, Scouting and military representatives, members of local pioneer families, and onlookers — gathered to cross the new footbridge. A Scout color guard followed. On the west bank of the Snoqualmie River, the U.S. Navy band played, a historical pageant of Native American and pioneer folklore was presented, a Liberty Bell replica was rung, a monument to John MacDonald was dedicated, and a time capsule containing names of project participants was buried. Mrs. MacDonald cut the symbolic ribbon, an unidentified Girl Scout declared the park open, and Boy Scouts showed off their hard work.

“Kids get a great deal of satisfaction doing something on their own…. Let a kid build something, and it is his forever.” — John MacDonald

Dedication program. June 26, 1976. Series 468, Park System History Files, Box 1, Folder 62, King County Archives.

Dedication day, June 26, 1976. Photograph printed in the final report of the Seattle-King County Bicentennial Commission, December 1976, Series 872, Box 64, Document 1115, King County Archives

Aerial of the completed bridge, 1976. Series 467, Park System Photograph Files, Box 6, Folder 25, King County Archives.

Boy Scout project badge, 1976. Series 468, Park System History Files,, Box 1, Folder 63, King County Archives.

Memorial monument, Tolt River – John MacDonald Park. Series 467, Park System Photograph Files,, Box 6, Folder 25, King County Archives.

Where were you during the Bicentennial? Were you a part of the Scouts or the Army Reservists who helped develop Tolt-Macdonald Park in 1976? Tell us about your experiences!

Resources

Clipping files, 1973-1980, County Executive John Spellman. Series 45, King County Archives. Additional records from the administration of John Spellman are held by the Puget Sound Regional Archives, Bellevue, WA.

History files, 1949-1997, King County Park System. Series 468, King County Archives.

King County Document Collection. Series 872, King County Archives.

Motion files, King County Council. Series 306, King County Archives.

Ordinance files, King County Council. Series 305, King County Archives.

Photograph files, 1900-2002. King County Department of Transportation, Road Services Division. Series 400, King County Archives.

Photograph files, c. 1948-1998; King County Park System. Series 467, King County Archives.

October is American Archives Month!
The theme chosen by the Washington State Archives for 2016 is “we love parks.” This is the last of a series of four posts from the King County Archives on the history of King County Parks.

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Lake Wilderness Lodge: Mid-Century Modern, Pacific Northwest Style

17 Monday Oct 2016

Posted by kcarchivist in Archives Month, Photographs

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This is the third in a series of blog posts celebrating American Archives Month 2016, using King County records to highlight the history of King County parks. For more, see “Athletes with Disabilities: King County Parks as a Recreation Pioneer.” and “From Coal to the Cold War: Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park’s Former Nike Missile Sites”

Lake Wilderness and Gaffney’s Resort

In the early 20th Century, lakes in the Maple Valley area were popular weekend destinations.

Kane Gaffney, a musician, reportedly had been inspired to establish a resort at Lake Wilderness after performing in an outdoor concert there.

So, in 1926, Kane and his brother Tom founded Gaffney’s Resort, which grew (taking over two other resorts on the lake) and prospered into the 1940s. At its peak, Gaffney’s saw upwards of 9,000 guests in a day.

Kane Gaffney, 1907. Series 467, Park System Photographs, Box 23, King County Archives.

Lake Wilderness had long been a getaway spot. The below map from 1907-08 identifies a summer cottage by the shore of Lake Wilderness, in the vicinity of the future Gaffney’s Resort.

Section 21, Township 22, Range 6 East, 1907-1908. Series 1067, Assessor’s Timber Cruise Reports, Volume 17. King County Archives.

Gaffney’s Resort offered cabins, water slides, a dance hall, and a roller rink, and over time was expanded to include a golf course and an air strip.

Postcards showing Gaffney’s Resort waterfront and cabin interior, circa 1940-1955. Series 472, Cultural History Research Project, Natural Resources and Parks, Department of: Recreation, Aquatics and Fairgrounds Division / Interpretive Program, Box 1, Folder 12, King County Archives.

People from nearby cities and towns travelled to the resort by automobile, and during wartime gas rationing, many came by shuttle. Vacationers stayed in the lodge and in cabins, while locals would frequent the dance hall for weekend nights out.

Plans for a new highway that would link the area to Seattle and Tacoma promised even more business, and, anticipating changing demand, the Gaffney’s invested in a new 20,000 square-foot lodge that could serve as a modern conference facility.

Pacific Northwest Modern

View of lodge from across Lake Wilderness, 1997. Series 1803, Photograph files: historic landmark nominations, Office of the Executive: Office of Business Relations and Economic Development / Historic Preservation Program, Box 2, Folder 10, King County Archives.

Designed by architects Young & Richardson, Gaffney’s Lodge earned a National Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects in 1952, and architectural trade journals lauded its modern design. In 2003, the lodge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as an early example of the Pacific Northwest Regional Style of the Modern movement.

Young & Richardson’s plans showing elevations of the sections of Gaffney’s Lodge, 1948. Series 1848, Parks plans, Department of Executive Services Facilities Management, Real Estate Services, King County Archives.

Integration with the landscape

A principle of Modernism held that a building should not be imposed upon a space but should instead relate to the landscape and reflect its locale. With its asymmetrical design and use of local materials, the Lake Wilderness Lodge responded gracefully to its surroundings.

Plot plan for Gaffney’s Lodge, 1948. Series 1848, Parks plans, Department of Executive Services Facilities Management, Real Estate Services, King County Archives.

The lodge interior related to the out of doors by providing a dramatic view of the lake from a convention hall that could seat 600, as well as a quiet transition from sleeping quarters to a forested area outside.

Side view of lodge, 1997. Series 1803, Photograph files: historic landmark nominations, Office of the Executive: Office of Business Relations and Economic Development / Historic Preservation Program, Box 2, Folder 10, King County Archives.

Form and Function and a Northwest Regional Architecture

Another tenet of Modernism was to reject superficial ornamentation. Beauty was seen in unity of design, material, and purpose. Manufactured furnishings and structural features such as support beams and joints were not hidden, and their display demonstrated respect for materials and their utility.

Though at the time the architects described the building as resembling “Swiss Alpine” architecture, Gaffney’s Lodge helped define an emerging Northwest Modern style. Industrial, manufactured elements, such as concrete posts, steel pipes, and large window panes, were combined with regional materials like hand-split cedar from local forests, and the overall design centered around an artwork based in the region’s Native American traditions.

The Dudley Carter Column

Detail from drawing for column and main stairway of Gaffney’s Lodge, 1948. Series 1848, Parks plans, Department of Executive Services Facilities Management, Real Estate Services, King County Archives.

Artist Dudley Carter sculpted the central column that spanned three stories and served as the lodge’s central structural support, rising to the ceiling through a free-standing staircase.

In describing the work, Carter explained how traditional Northwest Native American design and technique aligned with Modernist principles.

“The departure from realism, the distortion of the more or less abstract characters, together with the filling of space, brings the composition within the limits of the column. This, and the interlocking principle as practiced by the totem carvers makes a continuity of design throughout, while the blocky nature of the forms and the varying planes emphasize the three-dimensional quality of the sculpture and keep it in harmony with the medium and function as an architectural feature of the building. The characters are all native of the Northwest. The medium is Northern Red Cedar logged from the slopes of Mt. Pilchuck and carved with double-bit faller axes.” Dudley Carter, circa 1949. From artist’s statement provided to architects Young & Richardson, circa 1950. (Series 472, Cultural History Research Project, Natural Resources and Parks, Department of: Recreation, Aquatics and Fairgrounds Division / Interpretive Program, Box 1, Folder 12, King County Archives.)

Carving the Column

Dudley Carter carved the column from a 35-foot cedar trunk that was five feet in diameter at the base. He worked in public at the 1949 King County Fair, held in Enumclaw. The photographs here show the carving in progress.

Carving of pole for Gaffney’s Lodge by artist Dudley Carter at King County Fair, 1949. Series 468, Park System History Files, Box 1, Folder 9, King County Archives.

Carter documented the significance of each figure in the column. The human at the top represented the lodge’s host, who “seems to be gazing out across the Lake Wilderness toward Mt. Rainier and wishes for someone else to hold up the roof while he goes fishing on the lake.” (Click on the below detail for more descriptions.)

Transcription of artist’s statement by Dudley Carter provided to Young & Richardson circa 1948-1949. Series 472, Cultural History Research Project, Natural Resources and Parks, Department of: Recreation, Aquatics and Fairgrounds Division / Interpretive Program, Box 1, Folder 12, King County Archives.

The lodge’s Tillicum Room lounge also employed motifs derived from Northwest Native American art.

Details from plan for the Tillicum Room lounge at Gaffney’s Lodge, 1948. Series 1848, Parks plans, Department of Executive Services Facilities Management, Real Estate Services, King County Archives.

Permanent Open Space

Some 8,000 people had attended the lodge’s 1950 opening celebration that included an air show utilizing the new air strip near the building. But over the next decade, the resort’s popularity declined.

In 1966, King County was able to purchase the property through federal grant funding under the Housing Act of 1961, which supported preservation of open space near growing urban areas. The same year, the Lake Wilderness Arboretum Foundation was established and began development of an arboretum adjacent to today’s Lake Wilderness Park.

A Comfortable Building for Intellectual Pursuits

King County managed the 100-plus acres of open space and leased the lodge to the University of Washington for its extension program.

From photocopy of clipping from the Everett Herald article dated March 1, 1969. Series 472, Cultural History Research Project, Natural Resources and Parks, Department of: Recreation, Aquatics and Fairgrounds Division / Interpretive Program, Box 1, Folder 12, King County Archives.

The Everett Herald described the center in 1969 as “a comfortable, modern building of glass and concrete….designed and operated solely to provide an atmosphere and surroundings to aid intellectual pursuits,” hosting over 70 academic conferences a year.

A Future for the Lodge

After 20 years, in 1986, the University did not renew its lease, and with funding needed for upgrades and asbestos removal, the County and the community debated the lodge’s future.

A private company, Sportsmind Inc., which provided coaching and training to corporate and military clients, bid to lease the building for weekend retreats. Senior housing was another possibility, and there was popular support for an “Unlimited Hydroplane Hall of Fame and Museum.” The lodge finally was retained and renovated by King County, including making newly required safety and accessibility improvements, and was operated as a community center. In 1997, King County designated the lodge an official historic landmark.

The King County Public Arts Program’s Artist-Made Building Parts Project set out to “revive and promote the integration of art and architecture” and to “expand creative employment opportunities for artists.” In 1994, the program commissioned artist Jim Garrett to add required additional safety railing around the lodge’s free-standing stairway. (Artist-made building parts project / to revive, promote and encourage the integration of art and architecture, 1996, Series 872, Document Collection, Document 4912, King County Archives. )

To the City of Maple Valley

Through its acquisition of the land and decades of stewardship, King County ensured preservation of not only the culturally significant Lake Wilderness Lodge, but also the swath of picturesque lakeshore that has served as a recreation spot for over a century.

In 2003, Lake Wilderness Park and the lodge were transferred to the recently incorporated City of Maple Valley. The park continues to provide open space and a variety of recreation opportunities in the rapidly growing suburban city, and the lodge remains a popular venue for weddings and other events.

An Aside for Rails-to-Trails Fans

The 1907-08 Timber Cruise map at the beginning of this post also notes the line of the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad, labeled “C. & P.S.R.R.” In the 1970s, in an early rails-to-trail conversion, this line became King County’s Cedar to Green Rivers Trail that connects the Cedar River Trail to Lake Wilderness.

Related King County Resources

King County Historic Preservation Program

Sources

United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places NRIS Reference Number: 03000163, Gaffney’s Lake Wilderness Lodge (http://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/03000163.pdf)

The City of Maple Valley “Parks and Trails” (www.maplevalleywa.gov/departments-services/parks-recreation/parks-and-trails)

King County Archives Record Series

The below record series were used in researching this post. Series descriptions can be searched using our online collection database at archivesearch.kingcounty.gov.

Series 124, Commissioners Resolutions.

Series 306, Motion Files, King County Council: Relating to the King County Park System: Adopt Lake Wilderness Master Plan, 12/18/1989.

Series 467, Park System Photograph Files.

Series 468, Park System History Files.

Series 472, Cultural History Research Project, Department of Natural Resources and Parks, Aquatics and Fairgrounds Division / Interpretive Program.

History of Lake Wilderness & the Surrounding Communities, Transcription of taped interview: Bud Byers of the Maple Valley Historical Society. Recorded 7/31/95 by Holly Taylor

Series 872, Document Collection: [Document 1296] Lake Wilderness Master Plan / Draft Master Plan Report, Executive Summary, King County Natural Resources and Parks Division (1989).

Series 872, Document Collection: [Document 4912] Artist-made building parts project / to revive, promote and encourage the integration of art and architecture / [catalogue] (1996).

Series 992 , Box 2, Charles Payton administrative working files, Cultural Resources, Office of: Landmarks and Heritage Commission / Office of Historic Preservation King County Comprehensive Cultural Plan, Lake Wilderness Conference Center, Preston: mill and proposed arboretum, Seattle Center levy.

Series 1067, Assessor’s Timber Cruise Reports, 1907-1908.

Series 1803, Photograph files: historic landmark nominations, Office of the Executive, Office of Business Relations and Economic Development / Historic Preservation Program.

Series 1848, Parks plans, Department of Executive Services, Facilities Management Division / Real Estate Services.

October is American Archives Month!
The theme chosen by the Washington State Archives for 2016 is “we love parks.” This is the third of a series of four posts from the King County Archives on the history of King County Parks.

From Coal to the Cold War: Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park’s Former Nike Missile Sites

13 Thursday Oct 2016

Posted by kcarchivist in Archives Month, Other, Photographs

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

archives, cold war, history, nike, parks, recreation

This is the second in a series of blog posts celebrating American Archives Month 2016, using King County records to tell stories on Washington state’s theme of “We Love Parks.” For more, see “Athletes with Disabilities: King County Parks as a Recreation Pioneer” and “Lake Wilderness Lodge: Mid-Century Modern, Pacific Northwest Style.”

At the center of the Seattle Defense Area, King County was home to at least seven Nike missile installations between 1956 and 1974, most of which became county or city parks after decommissioning. The former Nike sites at Cougar Mountain and Lake Youngs were both taken over by King County Parks and developed into recreational areas for the benefit of the public.

Bird’s-eye photograph of Cougar Mountain, 1982. Taken from near just southeast of the intersection of SE May Valley Rd & SR 900.
Series 1629, Box 1, Folder 1.

Locating Missile Sites

The rapid stockpiling of American and Soviet missile arsenals that came to define the Atomic Age raised the possibility of sudden, decisive strikes that all but guaranteed long-term, widespread devastation for the government caught off-guard. American resources were invested not only in civilian defense, but into building an arsenal, ensuring the promise of mutually assured destruction and deploying dozens of defensive conventional and nuclear missile silos around major coastal cities and military installations.

Siting the installations during early planning phases was problematic; launch sites needed to be located in defensive rings around major cities and critical sites, but also required 119 acres per site. By the time the Ajax and Hercules sites of the Seattle Defense Area were built, architect Leon Chatelain, Jr., had designed underground sites that not only provided first-strike protection to the command and control facilities, but also decreased the necessary amount of land to 40 acres and allowed the sites to be located closer to the cities they defended.

Building a Park

King County acquired the former Nike sites through multiple transactions between the 1960s and the 1980s. The current site of Petrovitsky Park was once part of the Lake Youngs dual launch and control sites, stocked with Ajax surface-to-air missiles and operational between 1956 and 1961. Grandview Park and Kent Mountain View Academy in SeaTac are located on land acquired from King County after the Army decommissioned the former site of S-43, the Kent/Midway Ajax launch installation.

S-33 Lake Youngs launch site (map no. KCAS-1965-23.05)

S-43 Kent/Midway, 1965 (map no. KCAS-1965-22.04)

Above, 1965 Aerial Survey images from the King County Road Services Map Vault. Left to right: Lake Youngs (map no. KCAS-1965.23.05); Kent/Midway (map no. KCAS-1965.22.04)

Arguably the crown jewel of the King County Parks system, Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park encompasses the sites of the former Ajax missile launch and control facilities known as S-20. Like Petrovitsky Park, the Cougar Mountain area had experienced active coal mining in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries and became anti-ballistic missile installations during the late 1950s and early 1960s. During construction of the underground missile storage vaults, Army contractors reportedly filled two open mine shafts with concrete to seal the openings and stabilize the area.

Cougar Mountain Launch Site Park Plan, 1981. Series 1876 – Parks maintenance subject files, box 2

Deactivated in 1964, both the control and launch sites at Cougar Mountain were acquired by the King County Parks and Recreation Division and turned into the upper and lower park areas in 1983. In 1993, Parks partnered with the Army Corps of Engineers and government contractors on an environmental project at the former control site: removing the mess hall, latrine, and assembly and test buildings; pumping water out of the missile vaults; and seeding the launch area to cover it with grass. Some of the upper site remains.

S-20 Cougar Mountain control site (ref ID 900.25)

S-20 Cougar Mountain launch site (ref ID 900.26)

Aerial photographs of S-20 Cougar Mountain/Issaquah, ca. 1970s-1990s. Left: control site near Anti-Aircraft Peak; right: launch site off of Clay Pit Rd.
Series 900, Rolls 25 and 26.

King County continued to acquire land around these two initial sites, with the goal of building the park into a large public recreational area, close to urban populated areas and providing access to a wide variety of wild natural areas within the context of the region’s developmental history. “The green spaces within urbanized areas are not created or preserved because the land underneath is unsuitable for urbanization,” proclaimed a 1981 study by the Parks and Recreation Division:

Instead, the green spaces are there because the overall metropolitan complex needs them and ‘forward thinking decision makers’ have preserved them. . . . It is not any individual specific scene or composition that is captivating [at Cougar Mountain]; rather, visitors are taken by the mountain’s aggregate extent, its variety and landscape complexity and its many-acred largeness.

Miles of trails, expansive views of the region, and distinctive terrain characterize this landscape, and it is one of the few sites in King County with such an abundant diversity of native Washington plants. Today, Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park contains 3,100 acres of public wildland, connected to Squak Mountain State Park for a total of 5,000 acres of land protected for the enjoyment of all.

Photoillustration from the Cougar Mountain Master Plan (ref ID 467.2.24)

Bird’s-eye view of Cougar Mountain, ca 1970s or 1980s, from the vicinity of *-90 and 17th Ave NW (ref ID 467.2.24)

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park, ca. 1990 (ref ID 467.2.24)

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park, Aug 1994 (ref ID 467.2.24)

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park, ca. 1980s (ref ID 467.2.24)

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park, ca. 1983 (ref ID 467.2.24)

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park, Jan 1995, by Nancy Clendaniel Photography (ref ID 467.2.24)

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park, Aug 1994 (ref ID 467.2.24)

Upper Nike site (control), field and woodframe building near north and east boundary of site, 15 Sep 1980 (ref ID 467.2.24)

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park, Aug 1994 (ref ID 467.2.24)

Glacier Peak, Lake Sammamish, from viewpoint about 25-30 yds east of Upper Cougar Mountain Nike site, 10 Sep 1980 (ref ID 467.2.24)

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park, Aug 1994 (ref ID 467.2.24)

Aerial view – vicinity of the lower Nike site (launch), ca. 1980s (ref ID 467.2.24)

Aerial view of the lower Nike site (launch), ca. 1980s (ref ID 467.2.24)

Aerial view of the upper Nike site (control), ca. 1980s (ref ID 467.2.24)

Selections from Series 467, Photograph files of the King County Parks System, Cougar Mountain, Box 2, Folder 24.

Sources

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park in King County, Washington, http://www.kingcounty.gov/services/parks-recreation/parks/parks-and-natural-lands/popular-parks/cougar.aspx.

Fred Weinmann, “Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park—Marshall Hill Trail, DeLeo Wall and Redtown Meadow — April 20,” Washington Native Plant Society (Seattle, WA), http://www.wnps.org/cps/walks/apr-02.html, updated 3 Jul 2016.

John C. Lonnquest, David F. Winkler, and Julie L. Webster, “To Defend and Deter: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Missile Program” (Washington, DC, 1996).

King County Archives records cited

Series 467- King County Parks System – Photograph files, Box 2, Folder 24: “Cougar Mountain”

Series 900 – Department of Natural Resources and Parks – Aerial photographs:

Roll 25, Cougar Mountain Upper, 1″=50′
Roll 26, Cougar Mountain Lower, 1″=50′

Series 1629 – Office of Information Resource Management: Service Development / Printing and Graphic Arts – Photographs: Negatives, Box 1, Folder 1

Series 1876 – Department of Natural Resources and Parks – Parks maintenance subject files, box 2:

Study: “Cougar Mountain Regional Park,” King County Parks and Recreation Division (Seattle, WA, 1981).

Memo from Steve Williams to Randy Schroers, Bud Parker, and Ron Erickson (30 Nov 1992).

Related King County Resources

King County Parks and the Parks Plog
King County Road Services Division Map Vault

October is American Archives Month!
The theme chosen by the Washington State Archives for 2016 is “we love parks.” This is the second of a series of four posts from the King County Archives on the history of King County Parks.

Athletes with Disabilities: King County Parks as a Recreation Pioneer

03 Monday Oct 2016

Posted by kcarchivist in Archives Month, Photographs

≈ 1 Comment

Camping program participant, c. 1958-1960. Series 467, Box 14, Folder 6.

In the postwar 1950s, King County Parks oversaw a robust program of organized recreational activities. Under departmental leadership emphasizing innovation and expansion, recreation opportunities were extended to new, under-served groups of county residents, including girls and women, senior citizens – and youths with disabilities.

A happy camper, c. 1958-1960.
Series 467, Box 14, Folder 6.

A Pioneering Program

“Adapted recreation” for people with disabilities, both physical and intellectual, was an extremely novel idea in a time when these individuals were often regarded with only pity and were not well integrated into society at large.

In 1958, King County’s recreation leaders launched the pioneering adapted recreation program, the only such year-round program in the Pacific Northwest, and the first in the region to be sponsored by a public agency. In its initial year, 86 children with physical disabilities participated. In two years, participation tripled as children with intellectual disabilities were welcomed into the program.

“We felt that these children should have
opportunities after school, like anyone else”

Patricia Karrasch, recreation program director.

Inclusion and acceptance

160-467-14-6-abled-youth-helps-disabled-camper

Swimming program participants, c. 1960. Series 467, Box 14, Folder 6.

Recreation leaders encouraged the participation of abled youths alongside those with disabilities. Interaction among the groups was promoted as a social good that fostered inclusivity and acceptance. The program’s philosophy further permitted any participant to try any activity. If one activity wasn’t successful, another was offered in its place.

Expanding Activities

160-467-14-5-board-games-handicap-camp-1950s-2

Playing checkers, circa 1958-1960. Series 467, Box 14, Folder 5

Earliest activities included games, training in crafts, and structured social events. Team and individual sports, such as softball, track, tennis and bowling were swiftly added and many more would follow.

160-467-14-5-archery-practice-handicap-camp-1950s

160-467-14-8-girl-campers-at-picnic-table

Top: Archery practice, circa 1950s, Series 467, Box 14, Folder 5. Bottom left: Flag raising at camp, circa 1958-1960, Series 467, Box 14, Folder 3. Bottom center: Doing crafts, Camp Lutherwood, circa 1958-1960, Series 467, Box 14, Folder 8. Bottom right: Basketball at Camp Lutherwood, circa 1958-1960, Series 467, Box 14, Folder 8.

A Model Swimming Program

King County Parks’ popular and successful swimming program was extended to adapted recreation, not only as an individual activity, but soon as a competitive sport. This drew national attention. In the mid-1960s, when the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation was developing the first nationwide Special Olympics for youth with intellectual disabilities, planners sought out King County’s recreation specialists to learn how to stage a swimming competition. Two of the seven events at the first Special Olympics games were swimming.

160-467-14-5-swimming-program-for-disabled-no-location-or-date

Swimming program participants and helpers, probably at Camp Lutherwood; circa 1960. Series 467, Box 14, Folder 5.

Listen to Patricia Karrasch, recreation director for King County Parks in the 1950s and 1960s, talk about the competitive swimming program and other aspects of recreation for people with disabilities, and how the Parks program contributed to the first Special Olympics.

Interview with Patricia Karrasch, April 19, 1989. Series 50, Department of Parks, Planning and Resources, Parks Division, Oral history interviews, Box 2, tape 1, King County Archives.

Travel by Air, and On to the Special Olympics

Providing opportunities for youth to travel by air to camps and other destinations was already component of the adaptive recreation program.

160-467-14-5-airport-departure-pre-1970s

Parks program participants ready for departure from Seattle’s Boeing Field, circa 1960. Series 467, Box 14, Folder 5.

In 1968, 90 young athletes from Washington State — about 10 to 14 from King County — traveled to Chicago for the first Special Olympics via the team plane of the University of Washington Huskies.

Into the 1970s and 1980s

The models of the Special Olympics, and the older Paralympic Games for athletes with physical disabilities, were replicated at the state level in the 1970s and 1980s through the Washington Wheelchair Games and the Washington Games for Physically Disabled Citizens. King County endorsed the games and helped stage them; many county citizens participated.

160-467-21-2-wa-games-for-citizens-w-phys-disabilities-lowell-girl

Lowell Elementary School student practicing for the 1977 Washington Olympics for the Physically Disabled. Series 467, Box 21, Folder 2.

The original caption for the image to the right reads, “a student at Lowell Elementary School in Seattle practices one of the events which will be featured in the upcoming 1977 Washington Olympics for the Physically Disabled. This is the first year for these Olympics which will be held Saturday, March 5, at Green River Community College near Auburn, Washington. The Olympics are sponsored by the King County Parks Division, the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department, and Green River Community College.”

160-467-11-2-girl-artist-at-gold-crk-lodge-camp-for-disabled-youth-1993

A young artist, camping at Gold Creek Park lodge near Woodinville, 1980. Series 467, Box 11, Folder 2

As programs for persons with disabilities grew in schools and other public and private organizations, King County Parks continued its own program. At its peak, in the early 1980s, almost 30,000 participants enjoyed a wide range of activities.

Gains in Rights and Accessibility, and a Changing Role for Parks

Over time, and with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, individuals with disabilities achieved new rights, greater visibility, and opportunities alongside all citizens. During the same time, while King County Parks moved away from organized recreation and toward land stewardship through the creation of regional parks and trails, new accessible designs enabled increased recreational use of County parks by individuals with disabilities.

Looking Forward to the 2018 Special Olympics

As Seattle prepares to host the 2018 Special Olympics, King County can look back proudly at its pioneering role in special recreation.

Campers and staff at Camp Lutherwood, c. 1958-1960. Series 467, Box 14, Folder 6.

Looking Back

Did you or a family member participate in King County’s adapted recreation program, the Special Olympics or other athletic competitions? Tell us about your experiences by replying below!

Sources

Annual reports, 1948-1985; King County Parks and Recreation Department. Series 1714, King County Archives.

Interviews with Patricia Karrasch, Tom Ryan and George Wyse, 1988-1991; King County Department of Parks, Planning and Resources oral history interviews. Series 50, King County Archives.

Photograph files, c. 1948-1998; King County Parks System. Series 467, King County Archives.

Seattle Times news stories about the first Special Olympics:

“County Parks Sets Meet for Retarded Youth,” May 26, 1968.

“Chicago ‘Special Olympics’ Set for Retarded Children,” June 2, 1968.

“State Youths to Compete in ‘Olympics,’” June 27, 1968.

Related King County Resources

King County Parks and the Parks Plog

Department of Human Services Developmental Disabilities Division

The Office of Civil Rights Kids Web

October is American Archives Month!
The theme chosen by the Washington State Archives for 2016 is “we love parks.” This is the first of a series of four posts from the King County Archives on the history of King County Parks.

Boeing Field: the Making of Milestones

21 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by kcarchivist in Discoveries, Photographs, Videos and film

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The Archives just digitized “Boeing Field: the Making of Milestones,” a documentary about King County International Airport, produced by King County around 1990.

Using still photographs with voice-over narration, occasional sound effects, and a musical theme fit for a ’90s action TV show, the video tells us about the history of the airport and gives us an understanding of Boeing Field’s role in the region at the time the video was produced, promoting the airport’s importance to the local economy and its role in bolstering Seattle’s status as a major city.

The video was a timely discovery, as we recently provided a number of historical photographs to the King County International Airport for use in celebration of the Boeing Company’s 100th anniversary.

King County Department of Public Works Airport Division, circa 1990. Office of Information Resource Management: Service Development / Printing and Graphic Arts photographs, audio/visual material. Series 1423, Box 32.

A History of King County International Airport

Starting at 4 minutes and 48 seconds into the video, we learn of Boeing Field’s development from a racetrack (horse racing and automobile racing took place at the Meadows) to an international airport owned and operated by King County. The brief history highlights Boeing Field’s significance in the aviation industry and during World War II.

A copy of a copy?

“The Making of Milestones” as we see it appears to have been created by video-recording a screen projection of the original, which may have been film or another video format. This version could very well be a third or fourth generation copy. Such copies are frequently all that remains in collections of audio-visual recordings.

The Magnetic Media Crisis and video preservation

Because videotapes are quickly becoming unplayable as their life spans run out (see The Magnetic Media Crisis), digitization was a crucial step toward preservation. We were able to digitize this video thanks to our participation in Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound (MIPoPS).

Early Photographs of Boeing Field

As with videotape copies, the origins of photographs can be murky. Compared with today, cameras in the early 20th Century were uncommon, but reproduction allowed the same image to be acquired by many.

Above: C. K. Hamilton at the Meadows, Seattle, 1910. Series 400, Department of Transportation, Road Services Division, photograph and moving image files, item 400.77.225 (95-005-1755-N), King County Archives.

Most of the earliest Boeing Field photos in the King County Archives are copies of photos that also exist in other repositories and/or that were created by private parties. King County staff collected these photographs because they documented the airport’s milestones, and in that sense they represent a record of the agency. But we don’t always know their origin.

The above photo of Charles Hamilton, who made Seattle’s first heavier-than-air flight when he flew his bi-plane (first into a pond, and the next day with more success) to entertain crowds at the Meadows, appears in the King County Archives and elsewhere. Although the photograph was not originally created by King County staff, the Archives’ collection includes a negative copy, enabling good-quality reproductions.

More Recent Photographs

Above: North end of Boeing Field (no date). Series 400, Department of Transportation Road Services Division, photograph and moving image files, item 400.77.225 (95-005-4387), King County Archives.

Most of the later Boeing Field photographs in the collection were produced by or for King County to document airport events and facilities, though in some instances individual images may have been collected by staff from other sources.

The above photograph shows Boeing Field when it served as the regional airport for commercial passenger airlines, pre-SeaTac. The charming employee photo below is from a series of photographs taken in 1979 during the dedication of a new hangar for use by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Above: [Airport employee] FAA Hangar dedication, 1979. Series 400, Department of Transportation, Road Services Division, photograph and moving image files, item 400.140.50 (2622), King County Archives.

More on Flickr and at the Archives

More historical photos of Boeing Field are now on our Flickr page. You can also search our collection database or contact us to learn about other records of the King County International Airport, including agency records, historical maps and drawings.

From Boeing Field…to King County Parks

King County Parks program participants: airport departure, circa 1950-1959. Series 467, Park System, photograph files. Box 14, folder 5, King County Archives.

The image above serves as a nice segue. Taken at Boeing Field, the photograph is from the King County Park System. We see participants in the County’s program for children with disabilities ready for departure on an airline trip. In the first week of October, Bytes and Boxes will focus on this innovative Parks program, as we commence our celebration of American Archives Month, for which the Washington State Archives has decreed this year’s theme to be “Washington Loves Parks.”

Look here for more on King County Parks throughout the month of October!

Aerials: a bird’s eye view

24 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by kcarchivist in Newly Accessioned, Photographs

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Tags

aerials, kingdome, metro, transit

The Archives recently accessioned a small collection of records from the King County Department of Transportation’s Transit Division. These records include photographic prints, negatives and slides that were produced in planning for improvement or expansion of Metro bus bases.

A basic principle in archives is that records can have value beyond the original purpose for which they were created. Although we can certainly learn about the physical layout, equipment, and condition of the Metro bases in the 1980s and 1990s from this collection, the photographs also give us other information. Many photographs in the series show building interiors and exteriors, and of course, buses. Here we will be talking about aerial photographs of the different Metro bases that were taken in 1991 and 1992.

Central Base (Seattle), 6/18/1991. Photographer Ned Ahrens. (Central Base is in the lower-right quarter of the image.)

Looking into the past

One way to use aerial photographs is to see how a place has changed over time. The Kingdome, seen in the above photograph, is a memory (to some), now replaced by CenturyLink Field. Below, photographs of Seattle’s “Hooverville,” taken during the Great Depression, show the same part of the city — from closer-in and at a lower angle — as it appeared in the 1930s. Landmarks like Smith Tower in the image on the right and the waterfront on the left help us compare the cityscapes.

King County Archives Series 275, Department of Public Health, images 90.2.3167, 2/6/1933 (top or left) and 90.2.1794, 7/20/1932 (lower or right).

Oblique vs. vertical

The Metro base photos are taken at an oblique angle, which allows us to see topography, building height, and details of the urban landscape that we would not see in a straight vertical shot. Oblique photographs show space in linear perspective (more distant objects appear smaller), and lenses can introduce distortion, as below.

Central Base (Seattle), 8/17/1992. Photographer Keith Purves.

Making maps

Vertical aerial photography minimizes distortion and was first introduced for use in mapping. The King County Assessor’s WPA-funded 1936 Land Use Survey project combined data from traditional field surveying with systematic aerial photography to create a more accurate record of property throughout the County.

Making meaning

In an archival collection of agency working files, notations can add meaning to a record. The below photograph of Ryerson Base (west of Central Base) came with a plastic overlay that indicates in striped tape a path that now, over 20 years later, is a segment of the SODO Multi-Use Trail, adjacent to Sound Transit’s light rail tracks. Related records in the collection may tell us the intent behind highlighting the right-of-way as part of facility planning in the 1990s. Without that context, we can guess but can’t know its original purpose.

Ryerson Base (facing north, view of downtown Seattle), 8/11/1992. Photographer Keith Purves.

Applications of aerial photography

Aerial photography has many applications in the natural sciences, such as geology and hydrology, as well as in social science and engineering fields, such as archaeology, transportation, and urban planning. In the below image, we see a mix of light industrial uses alongside treed areas and bodies of water near the Bellevue Base. Though the landscape is not idyllic and can hardly be seen as “green,” we are reminded that the this type of space supports functional uses upon which we depend, including Metro’s environmentally friendly bus service.

Bellevue Base, 6/18/1991. Photographer not identified.

Reflection

Seeing the land from bird’s eye view can help us reflect on the spaces we use and inhabit. Aerials can be beautiful as photographs and compositions, with their unexpected patterns and dramatic forms, combined with familiar landscapes and the details of daily life. Following are a few more images from the series.

Central Base (Seattle), 8/11/1992. Photographer Keith Purves.

North Base (Shoreline), 3/20/1991. Photographer not identified.

Bellevue Base, 8/17/1992. Photographer Keith Purves.

Ryerson Base (facing South), 8/11/1992. Photographer Keith Purves.

More on aerial photography

To learn more about aerial photographs in the King County Archives collection and elsewhere, please see our guide, Aerial Photographs.